Unapologetic Frederickson explains his votes on cuts

By KEVIN SWEENEY

Journal Editor

NEW ULM -- State Sen. Dennis Frederickson was unapologetic for the quality of his representation in the Legislature Wednesday, following Tuesday's New Ulm City Council meeting.

At the meeting, Tim Flaherty, a lobbyist for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, spoke for an hour about the actions taken by the Legislature and the governor to cut Local Government Aid. He said rural Minnesota lawmakers, including Frederickson and State Rep. Brad Finstad, both Republicans, failed to support the Coalition's plan that would have restored some LGA cuts, and levied some cuts in transit aids paid to suburban communities.

Frederickson said the LGA cuts were part of a large budget balancing plan that affected other services and units of government as well. "We tried to strike a balance," said Frederickson. "If we had put more money into LGAs, we would have had to take it from somewhere else -- schools, counties, universities."

As for transit aid cuts, "that just wasn't going to happen," said Frederickson. Suburban legislators had the votes to prevent those cuts, and nothing Frederickson or any other legislator could have done would have changed that, he said.

"We could have held out and prolonged the legislative session, but the people around the state had no patience for that," said Frederickson. "They wanted us to make the best budget we could and get the job done."

At the meeting Tuesday, Council President Dan Beranek told the audience that he was asking Frederickson and Finstad "to come before the council at our next meeting and explain why they didn't support us."

Frederickson said he had received an invitation from the mayor's office immediately after the session to talk with city councilors, but asked for a little time to recover and catch up after the session. He hadn't heard back from city officials.

"I'm always happy to talk to our local officials about the session," said Frederickson.

City Manager Brian Gramentz said Wednesday that an invitation would probably be re-issued to the local legislators.